Online Lessons

“… Fortunately, many who work in educational technology fields are more than willing to share their expertise with others online through videos, podcasts, and more commonly, blogs. We’ve collected a few of these great blogs here, creating a great reading library for any online educator who wants to learn more, develop professionally, and connect with others in the field.”

The 50 blogs are in four groups – exploration strongly encouraged.

News and Views (10 blogs): Give these blogs a read to make sure you stay in-the-know when it comes to all things edutech.

Educational Technology Professionals (14 blogs): Here you’ll find blogs from professionals working in educational technology, a great resource for those new to online teaching and old pros alike.

Education Professionals (14 blogs): These teachers, professors, librarians and other educational professionals share their advice on teaching online courses and incorporating technology into the classroom.

Tricks, Tips and Resources (12 blogs): These sites are full of great advice and resources for online educators to use.

On-line typing lessons (comments on first 3 by Drew Blanchard, Winooski City Schools)

BBC Dance Mat Typing – A little childish, but very flexible. Flash based, and some of our older computers didn’t like it very much.

Powertyping – A basic, comprehensive touch typing program. Not very exciting or interactive, but it lets you easily save scores/progress and also allows the user to skip around to different lessons and skills.

Sense-Lang – An OK site, but directions are less clear. Graphics are good.

GCF LearnFree.org is a source for learning about with “Everyday Life”, “Math & Money”, “Computer Training”, “Online Classes”, and “Work & Career”. The Computer Training section covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more – multiple versions (2000, XP, 2003, 2007) of each. Materials can be used to teach yourself, or for use in a class (with permission). I haven’t tried the Online Classes — they’re free (funded by donations), could be a good fit for some learning styles.